


Lettuce Get Together

by nicoleeemusic98, twinflamedfest



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: M/M, Swearing, blink and you'll miss suchen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-11
Updated: 2018-11-11
Packaged: 2019-08-22 01:45:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,763
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16588388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nicoleeemusic98/pseuds/nicoleeemusic98, https://archiveofourown.org/users/twinflamedfest/pseuds/twinflamedfest
Summary: So uhhh this has been a longass ride, like it went from me not knowing how to even start the story to getting overexcited and writing out a good chunk of the beginning to getting various writers’ blocks and not knowing how to progress the scenes and eventually I couldn’t even submit this on time rip but I tried my best to end things off nicely. To my recipient, I hope you enjoy reading this ^^ to everyone else, err enjoy this new addition to the Hunhan ficdom. The title of this fic was taken from a page of Chef Jokes in an act of desperation. No lettuces were actually harmed in the making of this story.





	Lettuce Get Together

**Author's Note:**

> So uhhh this has been a longass ride, like it went from me not knowing how to even start the story to getting overexcited and writing out a good chunk of the beginning to getting various writers’ blocks and not knowing how to progress the scenes and eventually I couldn’t even submit this on time rip but I tried my best to end things off nicely. To my recipient, I hope you enjoy reading this ^^ to everyone else, err enjoy this new addition to the Hunhan ficdom. The title of this fic was taken from a page of Chef Jokes in an act of desperation. No lettuces were actually harmed in the making of this story.

 

  ** _Lu Han oppa you’re so handsome!_**

****

**_Omo Lu Han that hamburger must have been really delicious ^^ wish I could’ve tried it too_ **

****

**_Ooh I’m definitely going to check out that cafe now that Lu Han has rated it a 4 out of 5 stars, anything that Lu Han recommends is guaranteed to be nice uwu_ **

 

 

“Are you stalking that guy’s youtube channel again?”

 

Sehun immediately slams his laptop shut upon hearing Junmyeon’s voice. “No Junmyeon, can’t a guy just go onto youtube to listen to some songs now?”

 

“That doesn’t explain why you immediately shut your laptop when I asked you though.” Junmyeon arches a questioning eyebrow in his direction, leaning against the doorframe of Sehun’s room. “Unless you’re watching porn, which I will then proceed to tell you to keep it in your pants.”

 

“Um okay first of all fuck you, second I’m not some horny high schooler and third of all fuck you.”

 

Junmyeon wrinkles his nose in distaste at his crude language. “Sometimes I don’t understand how you’re one of the most popular chefs in Korea with a sizeable fandom given your potty mouth, your fans must really be attracted to your face because I can’t think of any other explanation.”

 

“What do you want Junmyeon?” Sehun snipes. “I don’t think you’re here just to pick on me.”

 

“You’re right, I have better things to do.”

 

“Like browse on Tinder for hours, trying to get a date?”

 

“Wow okay you didn’t need to go there.”

 

“You already went for me being horny and desperate I can sure go there.”

 

“Whatever,” Junmyeon rolls his eyes. “I’m here to inform you of a collaboration request. Apparently someone’s quite the fan of you.”

 

“Oh?” Sehun face perks up in slight interest. “Who is it?”

 

“It’s Lu Eats.”

 

“Oh fucking hell.”

 

 

Oh Sehun doesn’t despise Lu Han. He just doesn’t like him.

 

It all started when Junmyeon approached Sehun about starting a vlog series for cooking. Junmyeon had always had a passion for media arts, and sometimes just taking pictures and short one minute clips for instagram just wasn’t enough. Sehun had been Junmyeon’s roommate back when they were in culinary school, and he remembered their apartment being filled with photographs. Junmyeon had often took pictures of the many dishes to be seen around the school, capturing their essence and delicacy from carefully chosen angles.

 

Before going into culinary school and studying to be a chef, Sehun had been taught the ways of business by his father. He certainly had the talent to oversee the masses and delegate work, as well as make critical judgements about potential business deals. Cooking had however been his true passion and it had been a dream of his as a child to open up his own restaurant one day. Ten years later had seen him head chef of his own restaurant, specializing in mushrooms. Head chef was a position truly well fit for him.

 

Junmyeon, with his eye for aesthetics, had been a pâtissier back in culinary school. They had been paired together for an assignment, hit it off and made the decision to move in with each other at the end of the semester. This would always be a decision that Sehun would never regret making.

 

When Junmyeon had first proposed the idea of a vlog series for international forms of culinary, Sehun had seen it as an opportunity to grow his business as well as slowly ease himself away from the main scene. Cooking would always be his one true love, but he wasn’t getting any younger and days in the kitchen often left him exhausted and strained. He had agreed after a day and spent the rest of the week making plans with Junmyeon on the creation of the series.

 

Culinary Around the World had started out fine, they had begun with a flight to China to watch how Xiao Long Baos were made. After the vlog was filmed and edited, Sehun hired a part timer to translate their contents and make subtitles for Chinese viewers. Kun had done a good job and was now their to go guy for Chinese translations. They had gotten a steady viewership from their first vlog and their numbers only increased with subsequent vlogs.

 

Until one day Sehun discovered Lu Eats.

 

It had been a recommended video on Youtube, and Sehun had unsuspectingly clicked on it. He had taken one look at the number of views of that one video and had nearly spurted out his coke all over the screen of his laptop. On further clicks throughout Lu Eats’ whole channel, he confirmed that Lu Eats had thirty percent more viewers on average in comparison to Culinary Around the World.

 

Not one to give up so easily, Sehun scoured forums and various forms of social media, wondering just how Lu Eats was seemingly more popular than his channel. The answer came to him in the form of a forum page, where the discussion had been Lu Eats versus Culinary Around the World.

 

**_Lu Eats for sure, Lu Han oppa is so cute!_ **

****

**_How is CAtW even any competition? Have you seen Lu Han? His cuteness outviewed._ **

****

**_I would’ve chosen LE over CAtW because I enjoy watching mukbangs more, but damn Lu Han is not an eyecandy to be missed._ **

_Lu Eats is cuter? How are Junmyeon and I not good looking enough? I’ll show all of you._

 

He had since then been obsessed on how to beat Lu Eats in terms of popularity. How dare Lu Eats be cuter than him? No one is cuter than Oh Sehun, especially some random reaction eater on Youtube. What was so great about reaction videos anyway? At least Sehun’s videos were educational.

 

A one-sided silent war had since then commenced, especially when Junmyeon had decided to watch the mukbangs and had called Lu Eats cute.

 

“Oh come on, you may not like the content of mukbangs, but you can’t deny that Lu Han is cute.”

 

“Who’s Lu Han?”

 

“Seriously Sehun? You’ve stalked this guy to the ends of the Earth but you don’t even know his name?”

 

Sehun flushed. “It’s not like I actually watch his videos.”

 

“Well you should, he actually has pretty good content, good video quality and he’s actually funny. He sure knows how to work a camera to his advantage you know.”

 

“Hyung who’s side are you on?”

 

“That’s funny, I wasn’t even aware that there was a side.”

 

Seeing Sehun’s sulking face, Junmyeon tried to sooth his feathers. “We don’t even make the same type of videos Sehunnie, we make educational videos, he makes mukbangs. The only thing our vlogs have in common is food. I don’t understand why you seem ready to charge into war against him.”

 

“He has more views than us.”

 

“Kpop groups’ music videos have more views than our vlogs too yet I don’t see you hating Girls’ Generation.”

 

“That’s different, everyone loves Girls’ Generation. Especially Yoona. I’m pretty sure it’s a crime to hate Yoona.”

 

“I agree, but seriously Sehun this whole ‘feud’ of yours is really silly, especially since Lu Han has done nothing wrong to us. As far as I can see, he’s just been minding his own business and hasn’t insulted anyone.”  


“Whatever.”

 

Junmyeon had sighed. “Cheer up would you? How does ice cream sound now?”

 

“It better be quality ice cream, not some random ice cream from a nearby ice cream truck.”

 

“Sure whatever you want, so long as you stop sulking.”

 

 

“Remind me why we’re doing this again?”

 

“Because I said so. Also you can’t deny that the guy draws in lots of views, as seen from the number of views his vlogs average as compared to ours.”

 

“That’s because his fans think he’s pretty.”

 

“And our fans don’t? You can’t deny, we’re both two attractive guys. Girls love that. Besides, a little more publicity won’t hurt us. It might even increase our viewership. You know what that means Sehun.”

 

Sehun sighs. More viewers meant more exposure. More exposure meant more opportunities for sponsorships. And that meant more business. If Junmyeon hadn’t been a celebrity chef, he probably would’ve been a lawyer. Or an agent. Or at least someone’s manager.

 

It’s not like their vlogs were doing too badly. Culinary Around the World was doing more than fine thanks to Sehun and Junmyeon’s tenacity. With his business sense and Junmyeon’s videography skills, they get invited to many conferences around many parts of Asia. International acclaim was definitely their goal in the long run, but Sehun was rather content at currently dominating Asia.

 

Junmyeon made a point however. And he knows that if he said no, Junmyeon would respect his wishes but grouch about it for the rest of their lives. Sehun would have to move to Siberia if he wanted to get away from Junmyeon, but he knows he would never do that because he’d miss Korean food way too much. What can he say, he’s a man who loves his country.

 

“Fine,” he relented, feeling a small headache starting up in his head. “I just hope I don’t end up regretting this too much.”

 

 

He regrets it nearly immediately.

 

Sehun thought that no one could ever look better off camera than they were on camera, seeing as he himself gets minimal makeup done before filming his videos to look more presentable on the camera.

 

Lu Han might be the very first person to look better in the flesh than he did on screen.

 

That has to be some form of sorcery. No one can defy the laws of nature just like that. Sehun feels suspicious about this guy.

 

And then despite looking nearly unreal, Lu Han has the audacity to _smile_ at him.

 

“Hey it’s great to finally meet you! I’m a huge fan of your videos and I’m so glad you agreed on this collaboration with me.” At this, Lu Han beams and Sehun tries his hardest not to scowl outright.

 

He probably would’ve frowned and then walked off, because _god forbid_ Sehun interact with his mortal enemy, but Junmyeon had other ideas. Sehun glowers as Junmyeon elbowed him to prevent him from leaving, before the latter turns to Lu Han with a winning smile of his own to match Lu Han’s enthusiasm.

 

“Hi I’m Junmyeon, the one who got in touch with you. It’s a pleasure to meet you in the flesh after watching your videos, and I hope we’ll all have a great time with our upcoming collab.”

 

“Hey Junmyeon,” Lu Han smiles back, eyes seemingly shining as he locked eyes with Junmyeon’s own. “I’m quite a fan of yours. I really like your various creative takes with your homemade Kimbap, I never knew that there were so many ways to experiment with such a simple dish!”

 

Sehun was this close to gagging, everything was going stellar so far. First he has to do some video collaboration with this human My Little Pony and now, judging by the way Junmyeon shyly glances back at LuHan, he has to potentially third wheel said human My Little Pony and his best friend. He wonders why he agreed to such a disastrous idea in the first place.

 

Seeing as neither Junmyeon nor Lu Han were going to move on to the objective of this whole meeting, Sehun decides to start the ball rolling. “So what are exactly are we going to do our collaboration about?”

 

Junmyeon finally tears his gaze away from Lu Han, seeming to finally realize that Sehun existed too and had been standing there for a while. He moves to get his planner out of his bag, the one that Sehun had bought him for his birthday last year. Junmyeon was a stickler for details and could only function with a schedule and a to-do list on him, or else he’d be a mess. Sehun had kidnapped Junmyeon’s planner once just to see what would happen. He never did it again.

 

“I was thinking that we could basically have a small vlog series special where Lu Han travels with us and actually films his vlogs alongside us. It could be a six part series where Culinary Around the World and Lu Eats alternate filming the videos, and our episodes could focus on our usual stuff with Lu Han around while Lu Han’s episodes are of his usual mukbangs except that he’s with us and trying out our food.” Junmyeon looks up from his planner as he finishes, eyes slightly glinting with a look not unlike one a mad scientist would have.

 

Sehun never likes it when Junmyeon gets that mad scientist look of his, but he has to admit that Junmyeon rather outdid himself on this idea. Fans of both channels would be able to watch their favourite content creators, as well as check out the other channel’s content if curious. It was a great opportunity for exposure on both sides and he couldn’t think of any backfiring that might be prone to happening with Junmyeon’s collaboration idea. He gives Junmyeon a small nod to show that he was on board with idea, and Junmyeon sends him a small smile as thanks.

 

“How about you Lu Han? Sehun thinks the idea is good to go,” Junmyeon is smiling, but the smile is a little bit too forced and Sehun knows he’s feeling anxious about Lu Han’s answer. “If you don’t think it’s a great idea I can always-”

 

“Are you kidding?” Lu Han interrupts Junmyeon before the latter’s nerves could get the better of him. “I think it’s a great idea! I’ve always wanted to actually see you guys cooking in the flesh and you’re making one of my biggest wishes come true, so seriously I should be thanking _you_ for all of this instead.”

 

“Well,” Junmyeon colours a little, scratching his neck bashfully. It doesn’t take a genius for Sehun to figure out that his best friend might just be a little bit in love with human My Little Pony. “If you approve of the idea, I’ll start thinking up of the scripts for the special mini series?”

 

“Even better,” and now Lu Han was back to beaming and showing off his pearly white smile. Sehun kind of wishes he would stop doing that. “I’ll get in my best friend to help you with it! I’m sure you’ll adore him.”

 

 

“And his best friend who so happens to help brainstorm and write up all his mukbang vlog scripts and ideas also happens to be up-and-coming screenwriter Kim Minseok?”

 

“Yes Sehun, that seems to be the case.”

 

Sehun couldn’t believe this strange twist of fate. Lu Han was merely a mukbang vlogger, who had been a rising star in the Youtube community in the recent months. How did he, of all people, actually end up being friends with Kim Minseok?

 

Kim Minseok, who was only the best screenwriter in their generation.

 

There was no way this literal fairy who goes by the name of Lu Han could actually be close friends with the astute Kim Minseok, let alone best friends. But stranger things have happened. Sehun became Junmyeon’s roommate and best friend through a school project. And apparently pigs now can fly and unicorns exist.

 

He supposes Lu Han and Kim Minseok being best friends wasn’t too far a stretch from that.

 

Junmyeon spares him a glance in the midst of reviewing his planner, eyes searching Sehun’s face for answers. “Penny for your thoughts?”

 

Despite the age gap, difference in family background (Junmyeon hailed from a long line of important figures in the culinary world), different major in culinary school and different preferences (Sehun was and still is a hardcore Yoona stan while Junmyeon had run a Sunny fansite back in his youth), they had undeniable chemistry even from the very first five seconds upon meeting each other, when Junmyeon had introduced himself to a taciturn Sehun. There hadn’t been any awkward moments in the initial stages of their friendship, and any gaps in their conversations usually slipped into a comfortable silence.

 

They had simply just clicked, and Sehun is forever thankful to the fates for letting Junmyeon be late that first day of class and having to sit at the only empty seat in the class. Several years have passed since that day and he quite frankly can’t see his life without Junmyeon in it, nor does he know how his life would have turned out had he not met Junmyeon that day.

 

If platonic soulmates were a thing, Sehun is convinced that Junmyeon would be his. He doesn’t say much about it to Junmyeon, but Sehun’s very thankful for the older being a constant figure on the lookout for him considering how bad he is at expressing his emotions through spoken words. Junmyeon’s ability to understand just exactly how Sehun was feeling without the need of words was something that the younger treasured in his older friend.

 

Sehun’s not so thankful right now for that very same ability of Junmyeon’s, seeing that he might as well say his thoughts aloud. He’s tried many many times, but he’s never been able to fully evade from telling Junmyeon the truth. He sighs and turns to the elder who meets his eyes, obviously waiting for a reply.

 

“I just don’t understand how Lu Han even got that many views on his videos to begin with. Mukbangs are literally reaction videos, what’s so interesting about them? Do people even care about the content in the video anymore? If they don’t, which they obviously don’t, then why are we even making them? We should just eat some food, smile at the camera and say how delicious it is and then call it day. It’s easier to make money that way after all.”

 

He expects Junmyeon to agree with him. After all Junmyeon, like he, went to culinary school. He of all people should understand that cooking is a skill and a craft not to be dismissed and looked over so easily, and that Lu Han’s mukbangs were a disgrace to culinary.

 

He doesn’t expect Junmyeon to frown at him, his brows furrowing together. “And what’s wrong with mukbangs Sehun?”

 

“Didn’t you hear me? I just said-”

 

“I heard you the first time Sehun, and what I’m hearing is that you’re being a hypocrite. Our channel may have a loyal following of viewers who’re genuinely interested in what content we provide, but I’m very certain that some of them are present because they like looking at a pair of good-looking guys cook.”

 

Sehun blinks at Junmyeon, feeling and looking rather gobsmacked. Before he gets a chance to reply, Junmyeon barrels on.

 

“Also, food vloggers like Lu Han help bring publicity to the places they get their food from. Many of those places include hole-in-the-wall cafes that don’t get lots of business, and the exposure from mukbangs help them get by the days. Honestly Sehun, mukbang vloggers aren’t hurting anyone with what they’re doing. So really, why do actually dislike Lu Han this much?”

 

And Sehun swears he would roll over in his grave first before ever admitting it, but Junmyeon’s giving him that look that he can never resist: the one where he’s slightly worried about Sehun yet determined to get the truth out from him. He’s worn that look many times in culinary school whenever Sehun stays up through the night working on a new recipe but wouldn’t reveal it, and not once has Sehun managed to make his secret remain a secret after Junmyeon put on that look.

 

“Fine I’ll tell you,” Sehun grumbles, unable to withstand Junmyeon’s expression any longer. “I just think it’s inhuman how he’s better looking than me. No one should be able to do that, he must have done something about it.”

 

Junmyeon gave him one hard long stare, before cracking up. Sehun wants to feel offended, but this is his best friend laughing his ass off at him and he couldn’t help but just roll his eyes while letting a small smile grace his lips.

 

“Really Sehun?” Junmyeon wheezes, trying to catch his breath from all the laughing. “You were being so snippy to him just cause he’s better looking than you?”

 

“He could be stealing all our fans away!” Sehun sulks.

 

“Oh Sehun,” Junmyeon sighs, regaining his composure. “I’m very sure your fans won’t just leave you like that.

 

“You can never be too sure.”

 

“Okay you’re obviously getting slightly mad so I say we just call it a night and head to bed, I still need to meet Lu Han tomorrow to write out the script for our vlog collaborations.”

 

“I wish you joy in that hyung.”

 

 

Sehun doesn’t see hide nor hair of Junmyeon the next few days, for the older was busying himself with the script for the vlog collaboration. He’s ordering pizza one night and nearly asked for pineapples for toppings just the way Junmyeon likes it, before he remembers that the other wouldn’t be coming back early to their shared apartment for dinner. Grumbling, Sehun proceeds to cancel the pineapples and wonders if Junmyeon still remembers that he exists.

 

Finally after a week or so, Sehun comes home to a snoring Junmyeon sleeping on the couch in their apartment’s living room. His laptop was balanced precariously on his lap, threatening to tip over and crash to the ground at any moment. Sehun, being the good dongsaeng he is, makes a beeline for the couch and scoops up Junmyeon’s laptop before it could really take the plunge.

 

Perhaps the weight of the laptop was what kept him comfortable, as Junmyeon opens his eyes shortly after his laptop is removed and blearily looks around. His eyes brighten a little as he spots Sehun, and he slowly starts pulling himself up into a sitting position.

 

“Hey, what’ve you been up to the last few days while I was gone?”

 

“Oh you know, the usual.” Sehun starts, trying not to let Junmyeon see just how miffed he was. “Ordered some pizza and nearly came across evil yellow fruit.”

 

“Pineapples are superior you heathen,” Junmyeon, although still sleepy, was evidently awake enough to defend the honour of said evil yellow fruit. “Without them, you would only be eating ham, cheese, tomato sauce and bread in a Hawaiian pizza.”

 

“My wise choices in food aside, I can’t believe you’ve been gone for days Myeon.” Sehun whines. “And not just that, you leave the apartment at dawn and return well after dusk. I can’t even remember the last time I saw you awake, and that’s saying something seeing as I’m your roommate.”

 

“I’m sorry Sehun,” Junmyeon apologizes, flashing a small smile towards his best friend. “It’s just been really hectic and writing out the script took longer than I expected.

 

Sehun sighs, trying to shake things off. Junmyeon’s tenacity usually led to great things happening, but it also meant Junmyeon overworking himself till he passes out from exhaustion. He had lost count of the number of times he’s had to force Junmyeon to rest back in culinary school, with the approximation probably more than the total number of fingers and toes he possesses.

 

He’s about to nag Junmyeon for quite possibly the thousandth time, when a small ping emits from the older’s phone. Sehun irritably watches Junmyeon searching for his phone and asks: “Who is it?”

 

Junmyeon shrugs, reaching for his phone on the coffee table in front of the couch. “Probably Lu Han, the guy has a ton of ideas for the script.”

 

Sehun looks on as Junmyeon checks his lock screen for notifications, and narrows his eyes when Junmyeon’s eyes subtly widen while the faintest beginnings of a blush makes its way onto his face.

 

And Sehun truly tries, but as he watches Junmyeon rapidly type back on his phone, he can’t help but think that there just might be something going on between his best friend and the mukbang vlogger.

 

 

At long last, the script gets written and Sehun soon finds himself in front of the camera once again. He has Junmyeon next to him like always, except there’s now a new addition on his other side.

 

Lu Han beams at him as they continue standing in front of the camera, while his own one man tech crew busies himself with setting up the rest of the filming equipment. “I can’t wait to start filming for this vlog collab, this is gonna be so exciting!”

 

Sehun tries his best not to roll his eyes at the shorter, his enthusiasm clearly lacking. “I don’t get why you’re so excited over this, you’re just gonna be eating.”

 

“Um that’s exactly why I’m excited? You guys are well known for discovering good international food and showing various techniques and methods to make said good food and I finally get to try it out myself, you two are practically my heroes.”

 

“I’m sure you’re just saying that to please me now that I’m here and right in front of you.”

 

“I would never,” Lu Han urges, his face scandalized at the mere thought.

 

“Well I bet you are.”

 

“Well I’m not, I don’t know whether or not Junmyeon has told you this but I’m a huge fan of your show. It’s one of the reasons why I started my own mukbang, because I really like eating and seeing you guys have your own channel showcasing delicious food like that made me appreciate cooking and eating even more. I thought it was interesting how you guys taught more about cooking good food, so I thought I could go around finding good food myself.”

 

Sehun wants to believe that Lu Han is lying. But try as he might, the earnest look on Lu Han’s face tells him that the latter is telling the truth. And he feels strangely pleased about this new piece of information.

 

He wants to probe more, but then Lu Han’s one man tech crew decides that he’s finished setting up all the equipment needed and hollers for them to get ready. “Okay Jongdae!” Lu Han yells back, his eyes lighting up with anticipation. He turns to look at Sehun and smiles, and Sehun’s heart suddenly feels weird.

 

He decides not to think too much about it. It was time to film the first episode.

 

 

The first episode had them travelling to Vietnam, to try out Pho in its native homeland. The format of the episode was the same as Culinary Around the World, except that instead of it just being Junmyeon and Sehun flying to their destined country there was a third member along for the ride. As they walk out of Noi Bai International Airport, Sehun watches as Lu Han pulls out his own phone and opens the Instagram app, immediately clicking on the Instagram Story function and recording his surroundings while making small commentary.

 

“Hi everyone, I’m here in Hanoi with a couple of friends whom I’m working on a special project with. It’s really exciting news and I can’t wait to share it with y’all!”

 

Lu Han then flags down Junmyeon from the side and pulls him into his phone camera frame to include him in his instagram video, and Sehun’s heart starts feeling weird again.

 

Not even the Pho they had for dinner that night for their filming made him feel better (and it had been a good bowl of Pho).

 

 

With Thailand being their second destination, Sehun finds himself wandering the streets of Bangkok with Junmyeon and Lu Han while in search of some Pad Thai they could eat for their vlog. Lu Han’s cameraman Jongdae brings up the rear of their small group, looking around his surroundings and raising his camera up every now and then to take pictures of anything that catches his eyes.

 

Lu Han skips ahead Sehun a little and eyes a stall selling Mango Sticky Rice excitedly, nose scrunching a little as he takes in the scent of the fresh mangoes. “I heard from my followers that these make great desserts, do you want to include these in the vlog too?”

 

“Sure,” Sehun shrugs nonchalantly, trying not to act too listless. “Just make sure to pick the ripe mangoes.”

 

Lu Han, perhaps sensing that something was wrong in Sehun’s tone, looks back at him concernedly. “Hey, is everything all right?”

 

“I’m fine Lu Han,” Sehun mumbles, trying not to let himself seem too moody. “It’s just the jet lag or something.”

 

Lu Han didn’t seem like he completely trusted Sehun’s words, but thankfully for Sehun didn’t question more. “If you say so.”

 

With that, Lu Han goes to seek out Junmyeon, who had been hovering at the back of the group next to Jongdae. Sehun watches as Lu Han excitedly chatters about the Pad Thai they would be having for dinner as well as the Mango Sticky Rice that he planned to taste as an extra bonus for the vlog.

 

During dinner, Sehun sulks into a spoonful of Pad Thai when he sees Lu Han spoon feeding a scoop of mango to Junmyeon and curses his luck at having to sit opposite them.

 

 

Three days later finds the group exiting Mandalay International Airport, the afternoon sun beating down harshly on them. Lu Han for once, is babbling away to Jongdae about how he’d done some research on Mohingas and how he couldn’t wait to try some in Myanmar.

 

“You feeling good?”

 

Sehun nearly jumps as Junmyeon seemingly materializes out of thin air next to him, a small smile on his face. “God Junmyeon,” he groans, clutching at his chest. “Walk any softer would you?”

 

Junmyeon rolls his eyes, used to Sehun’s antics by now. “Stop being so dramatic Oh Sehun, it’s not my fault you were distracted.”

 

“I wasn’t,” Sehun grumbles.

 

“You definitely were Sehun, I’ve known you for years. You’ve never looked this out of focus.”

 

“Well I can’t possibly be unfocused in culinary school could I, they’d kick me out if I were even less than one hundred percent focused.”

 

“You’re not wrong there.”

 

The two friends lapse into comfortable silence, lugging their suitcases along behind them as they attempt to hail a cab to take them to their hotel. Jongdae and Lu Han follow them closely behind, the latter trying not to trip over flat ground.

 

They reach their hotel rooms only to find out that Junmyeon had made a mistake in their reservations (“I told you to lay off the coffee Junmyeon, when will you ever learn?”), and that there were only two rooms with queen sized beds available.

 

“Seriously Junmyeon?” Sehun sighed, wiping a hand over his face. “Did you think this was some sort of fanfiction where you had to do the most cliched thing ever possible?”

 

“Look I’m really sorry!” Junmyeon protested, his hands gripping themselves tightly in an attempt to not wring them. “I was really tired from planning this whole thing and you know how much more susceptible I am to mistakes once I start on coffee.”

 

Despite his annoyance at the mistake, Sehun couldn’t help but feel a pang of guilt towards Junmyeon. This entire collaboration had practically been orchestrated alone by Junmyeon on their side, the least he could’ve done was helped out Junmyeon instead of whining like a spoilt child.

 

“Look, this is easy to sort out. I’ll room with Junmyeon and you two room together.” Sehun proposes, looking at Lu Han and Jongdae.

 

“Oh but wouldn’t it be more fun if we mix up the roomings?” Lu Han questions, his eyes fixated on Junmyeon as he says that. And for one horrible moment Sehun thinks that maybe Lu Han wants to room with Junmyeon and leave him alone with Jongdae. Not that he has anything against Jongdae, the guy is funny. But Sehun doesn’t really know him? Is Junmyeon really going to leave him alone to room with a stranger?

 

That is, until Lu Han pipes up.

 

“I can room with Sehun while Jongdae can room with Junmyeon!”

 

Oh, Sehun supposes that wouldn’t be too bad. But why him of all people?

 

He’s about to open his mouth to ask when Junmyeon interrupts stiffly, “I don’t think that’ll be necessary.”

 

Sehun registers a look of shock cross Lu Han’s face at Junmyeon’s words, and tries not to feel too pleased.

 

An awkward silence cuts through the quartet, until Jongdae decides to speak up: “Well I guess that means you’re my roommate Lu.” and then he drags Lu Han away to collect their room keys.

 

Sehun thinks the whole thing was rather strange, and he ponders about it over his Mohinga the next morning. There was just something about yesterday that more than met the eye.

 

 

By the time the group lands at Velana International Airport, Sehun is ready to crash from exhaustion. This was only their fourth stop for their fourth episode, yet he already wants to call it quits and go home to snuggle under a warm blanket and drink some warm coffee.

 

He feels Lu Han brush past him, phone in hand and already opened to Instagram, happily greeting his followers by posting an update via Instagram Story.

 

It’s already been about a week or so since they’ve started this trip for their vlog collaboration, yet Sehun knows himself well enough by now to realize that he’s developed a small crush on the older. He hasn’t informed Junmyeon about his latest discovery, wanting to keep it private first before sharing it with his best friend.

 

There was also another smaller, underlying reason as to why Sehun hadn’t said a word about his newfound feelings to Junmyeon. After all, even a blind man could see that Junmyeon and Lu Han had been flirting with each other throughout the duration of their travels so far. And Sehun didn’t want to be the guy that came in between his best friend and potential lover.

 

They take another cab to their hotel, where they once again split between vlog channels. The hotel room he shares with Junmyeon has a view of the sea, and Sehun sticks his head out the windows to get a feel of the sea breeze. If it weren’t for the fact that he loves Korean cuisine, Sehun might’ve settled down in the Maldives a long time ago due to their delicious seafood diet and the environment. Being born and bred in Seoul made him appreciate nature a lot more, as well as have the urge to escape the cold harsh cityscapes.

 

The Garudhiya they have for lunch complements the ambience of the country, and Sehun has never felt more at peace. His good mood dissipates a little as he sees Lu Han laughing at a joke Junmyeon made, but he does his best not to feel annoyed. It’s not like Lu Han is even his friend, he shouldn’t be so controlling and unreasonable about it.

 

As they depart for the Philippines, Sehun couldn’t help but wish for the trip to end soon. Just two more countries, he could hold on that long right?

 

 

They breezed through the Philippines and Nepal quite quickly, both countries remaining rather uneventful aside from the usual filming for their vlog. Sehun had been so distracted throughout the two countries from looking at Lu Han, that he had barely remembered how the Chicken Adobo and Thupka tasted like. He made a mental note to visit Philippines and Nepal again some time soon so as not to miss out on his own food choices.

 

And now here they were back in Incheon Airport.

 

Back in Seoul.

 

It was time to say goodbye.

 

One part of Sehun couldn’t wait to go home and take a big fat nap, because he just ran through six different countries in about three weeks and he was thoroughly exhausted from it. But saying goodbye meant probably never being able to see Lu Han in the flesh again. Guess he would only ever be able to see Lu Han through a screen to know how he was doing.

 

The past three weeks had been an eye opener for him about how Lu Han truly was as a person, and his feelings hadn’t died down one bit. It also pretty much confirmed that Lu Han and Junmyeon probably had a thing going on between them, with the way they interacted with each other throughout the trip. Sehun tried not to feel too bitter about it, after all Junmyeon was first and foremost his best friend. And his best friend deserved nothing less than the whole world.

 

Unbeknownst to him, Lu Han sidles up to him and places a hand on his shoulder. Sehun nearly leaps out of his skin at the sudden touch, not knowing that the older had been behind him.

 

“Um, hey.” Lu Han begins earnestly, a smile on his face as always. He seems to pause a little, before collecting himself and carrying on with what he had to say. “I might have been reading the signs completely wrong this whole time but-”

 

This was it, Sehun thinks. Lu Han’s gonna ask him for permission to date Junmyeon, and he’d have to swallow down the words on the tip of his tongue and give the happy couple his blessings and never let either of them know about his true feelings. He braces himself for impact.

 

“-thinking, wanna go out some time together?”

 

Sehun blinks at Lu Han, who blinks back. Perhaps Lu Han was talking about going out with Junmyeon, and he’d misheard while having that inner monologue of his. There was _no_ way Lu Han wants to go out with him, with the way he had been acting all grumpy and silent throughout the trip. He does the first thing his brain would allow him to.

 

“What?”

 

Lu Han’s smile seemed to brighten at his reaction (or lack thereof), and he repeats himself: “I said, wanna go out some time together?”

 

And Sehun is so confused, doesn’t Lu Han like Junmyeon? Why else would they be flirting throughout their entire trip? Before he can stop himself, his mouth utters out the exact same words to Lu Han. And now it’s Lu Han’s turn to look confused at this new turn of events. “How exactly have I shown that I like Junmyeon?”

 

“Well,” Sehun begins nervously, trying not to let Lu Han’s good looks get to him. “You spoonfeed him food, you include him in your Instagram stories, you even laugh at his jokes!”

 

Lu Han stares at him for a good few seconds, before letting out a loud stream of laughter. Sehun can’t see what’s so funny about the whole situation, perhaps Lu Han had lost it after the days of continuous travelling. He opens his mouth to suggest that maybe they could have this conversation another day, when both of them are better rested but Lu Han beats him to it.

 

“Oh my god Sehun, that has got to be the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. Junmyeon and I are merely friends, nothing more. I won’t deny that I’ve been flirting with Junmyeon, but there’s more to it than Junmyeon and I liking each other. The truth is, Junmyeon has the biggest crush on Jongdae.”

 

This new revelation has Sehun’s head spinning, for he didn’t think things could get any wilder. “So all of that spoonfeeding and-”

 

“-and all that flirting was just to make Jongdae jealous enough to make a move on Junmyeon, because Junmyeon for some reason is too shy to do anything about it. Anyway all my hard work seems to have paid off, because Jongdae kinda grabbed Junmyeon’s hand and left with him the moment they got their luggages.”

 

Startled, Sehun immediately whips his head around to look through the crowd for any signs of his best friend’s head, but Junmyeon is nowhere to be found. “Did he just leave me behind?”

 

“Relax,” Lu Han grinned, his eyes not having left Sehun. “I can always drive you back.”

 

Well, guess that settled his best friend ditching problems. Almost. Sehun is going to have a few words with his supposed best friend once he gets back to their shared apartment.

 

“As I was saying, “ Lu Han says, smile not leaving his face. “Junmyeon and Jongdae have big fat crushes on each other and I have one on you. I wanna go on a date with you. Do you want to or nah?”

 

“Yes,” Sehun blurts before he could chicken out. “Let’s go on a date.”

 

“Excellent,” Lu Han beams. “I know of this one coffee shop that we can stop by on the way back to your place…”


End file.
